Read in the RP at weekend that Ryan Mills had definitely re-signed for next season. At the risk of being awarded a Le Roux for my first ever post I am surprised no 'thread' has been created on such fantastic news. Ryan is the life blood of our team at 12 and I agree with others that he has the potential to be our Captain next season when / if DOC retires.

Hopefully Neil Fissler has got something right for once and if Ryan has put pen to paper on a new deal then I imagine our ownership issues are close to being clarified. If this is the case then let us hope that the next few weeks bring some welcome news on further re-signing confirmations as well as new additions to the squad.

All things considered, I would sincerely hope that Will would show us a bit of loyalty after we gave him the opportunity do re-establish himself as a Premiership player after his injury woes at Bath.
He has certainly grasped the opportunity with both hands and has also got on England's radar with us.

I suppose it does make me wonder if he is being 'encouraged' by someone close to the England camp to make a switch to a 'bigger' team in order to stake his England claims.

Also I do accept that there could be other factors unsettling him, just hope we can promise enough to persuade him that the artificial grass is always greener at Sixways !

I'm more or less resigned to Spencer leaving as I am to the fact that these days players will move on from one club to another quite regularly. All clubs lose players who they would want to keep. Careers are short and a career ending injury is a constant risk. So I don't blame any player wanting to get up the ladder as far as he can.

All things considered, I would sincerely hope that Will would show us a bit of loyalty after we gave him the opportunity do re-establish himself as a Premiership player after his injury woes at Bath.

Why? If he had not performed we would have released him!

WBW why NOT ! His performance levels at the moment are exceptional, even if he was performing at 75% of his current levels we would likely want to keep him.
However, that sort of level would not have him talked about for a possible international call up, or in Flat's Teams of the Week (several) for that matter.

Nothing wrong with asking for a bit of loyalty, it's expected of us as supporters I'm sure.
Not enough of it displayed these days to be frank.

Latecomer correct I don’t believe in loyalty in sport from players or managers to clubs or vice versa. They are free to move at the end of there contracts in rugby (or earlier if both parties agree) and the clubs are free to move them on.

West Brom WarriorLatecomer correct I don’t believe in loyalty in sport from players or managers to clubs or vice versa. They are free to move at the end of there contracts in rugby (or earlier if both parties agree) and the clubs are free to move them on.

Agree with WBW.

I’ll stick my neck out and say I’m not the only one on this forum that’s tendered his resignation to an employer and moved jobs for betterment. Why should rugby players be different?

A rugby players career is short. At the age of 35 or so it's generally time up. Players are free to move when out of contract whenever they want to maximise their income for the short time they have available.

If they move for more money or international exposure then I wouldn't hold it against them.

Need not look far to see players who aren’t living up to expectations at “bigger” clubs for whatever reasons. Mike Williams does seem near the performances he had with us. Sometimes playing regularly and being coached well are enough to get you where you want to go. Hopefully the club can sell that dream to WS.

As A38 has said I am almost resigned to losing Spencer which will be a shame , but as others have said he has completed his contract so it is his choice based on what he thinks is best for him taking all circumstances into account.
Whilst the move for Hartley , Wood and Mullan provided International recognition. , more recently have the aspirations of Kitchener, Kevsic, Williams been enhanced by their move, or Galaza for that matter? as yet probably not. We wait to see how things work out for Val Raparva Ruskin.

All things considered, I would sincerely hope that Will would show us a bit of loyalty after we gave him the opportunity do re-establish himself as a Premiership player after his injury woes at Bath.

Why? If he had not performed we would have released him!

WBW why NOT ! His performance levels at the moment are exceptional, even if he was performing at 75% of his current levels we would likely want to keep him.
However, that sort of level would not have him talked about for a possible international call up, or in Flat's Teams of the Week (several) for that matter.

Nothing wrong with asking for a bit of loyalty, it's expected of us as supporters I'm sure.
Not enough of it displayed these days to be frank.

Maybe you are the opinion loyalty is not worth a jot ?

I think supporters think of this as we have the luxury of being loyal and closing our eyes and ears to the demands on professional rugby players.

Loyalty is a two way street. Someone else stated 'we resurrected his career' - you could make a solid argument that Will Spencer resurrected his career? Or were Warriors working him like a puppet?

We all talk of loyalty - if he had performed perfectly the fan base here would have hurled him under the bus without a moments hesitation.

I think loyalty is bandied around if players have had a chunk of contract on the physio bench at club expense and then do play for us in the latter stages of a contract and obtain offers or seek them? without a second thought. The only one countering that stance of late is Sam Lewis. Symons, CSW and Spencer if he does move on may arguably fit the the other stance imo.

As for us being used as a ‘vehicle’ for loftier aspirations, we are well ‘driven’ in that regard.

FlipFlopI think loyalty is bandied around if players have had a chunk of contract on the physio bench at club expense and then do play for us in the latter stages of a contract and obtain offers or seek them? without a second thought. The only one countering that stance of late is Sam Lewis. Symons, CSW and Spencer if he does move on may arguably fit the the other stance imo.
As for us being used as a ‘vehicle’ for loftier aspirations, we are well ‘driven’ in that regard.

See my comments on the CSW thread for my answer to that. If players are broken playing for the club, doing what we have asked, they shouldn't be asked for a debt of gratitude if the club fixes them.

TVM if Wuss wish to dispense with a player before his contract ends he would rightly expect for his contract to be fully paid up.
If a player wishes not to honour his contract and leave why should we not expect some compensation ? The alternative seems a bit one sided.

Its a Pro game now, players will stay if they feel they have the support and progression in their careers, other than that they have a fixed contract and can do as they please, as can their employers
Loyalty is down to the individual

I for one am paid at full pay injured or not. But to break my contract have to give a years notice. This gives my employers sufficient time to ‘balance the books’ and me time to prepare future employment.

What I can’t comprehend is how a player can break his contract with wishes of good will, but if it was the other way round there would be talk of the club paying compensation for early termination.

I do not, however, know the intimate detail of club/player contracts or if clauses for such releases might exist.

I am summoning but would doubt player or agent would sign up to go on SSP while injured in playing rugby. If he was to be on SSP we’d probably take his Marquee status off him due to SSP payments since arrival being much less than his alleged salary.

If we can hold onto Adams, Hammond, Humphries and Howe then although Bryce in his first season's form would be a big loss, he doesn't make the same impact on games bar the odd one (Northampton). He is a luxury at wing where Mills and Willison are necessities at centre, and Spencer is a huge loss at 2nd row if he does leave.

I think in looking at whether or not Ryan is likely to move, you have to consider where else in the Premiership is he going to get a good chance to start at 12, which he has repeatedly said is his preferred position.

All he has said is that he hasn't signed a new contract but that he is leaving it with his advisors to talk to the club. He has said those talks were happening, so I'm fairly hopeful that a new contract will happen, if it hasn't already, as intimated by the OP.

We seem to have settled on him as our first choice 12 and have adopted a style of play that suits him and allows him to express himself. He's playing well and that got him on England's radar in the summer. Moving could throw all that up in the air.

With Lance going back to Oz, will this mean Ryan slots back into 10? I hope the club has more ambition. If I were Ryan I would be asking this very question. He must surely want someone good inside him feeding decent ball.

I don't mean any offence to Sam or Jamie, it's just that we need someone of a higher level to fill the gap. I can't see Tom playing rugby again, and we need our main 10 to be older and wiser than a 20 or 23 year old.

Do we really need an older 10? Age has nothing to do with ability as a 10 - Newcastle play better with Hodgson or Willis at 10, Ford is young, Farrell is still much younger than most and has been for years. If Shillcock and Olver are good enough then play them, they won't gain experience if we refuse to play them at the highest level, and now is the perfect time due to having such a good 9 and 12.

Forgot to add Owen Williams for Tigers a few years ago, and Marcus Smith for Quins this season.

FiverWith Lance going back to Oz, will this mean Ryan slots back into 10? I hope the club has more ambition. If I were Ryan I would be asking this very question. He must surely want someone good inside him feeding decent ball.
I don't mean any offence to Sam or Jamie, it's just that we need someone of a higher level to fill the gap. I can't see Tom playing rugby again, and we need our main 10 to be older and wiser than a 20 or 23 year old.

Given the fact mills was at 12 and Olver at 10 for sarries implies that that will be the plan going forward

I thought Olver had a good game yesterday, i must admit that at first i was not impressed but recently has been playing better.
That said with only two fit 10's right now i feel we need cover, hopefully Tom will come through but i would expect that it wont be until next season given the length of this lay off.
There are always clubs and players looking for different options, i think we will see a new face soon unless Jonno is only having a holiday, no release from the club about him having finished, i know the tweet suggested otherwise.
Stranger things have happened

TeflonTedMarcus Smith is 18 ffs!
Stop ticking on about age and “class “

Jamie needs game time, and as JP and I have been saying for months, will be our first pick 10 if he stays fit, and our only problem will be keeping him.

That'd be the Marcus Smith recently described by his head coach as someone who must be handled carefully in terms of how many games he plays to avoid burn out or injury.

No question that JS is a good player and good enough for us, but his age is a factor, no matter what you say. Having an older head who can take some pressure off or help JS when out of form or confidence would be good management of his talent, not a damming of it.

But the tone of most of the comments is that we need a lead 10 to take over. Which in my view we don’t, and which would hamper Jamie’s development, and could easily be the start of him looking elsewhere.

misunderstood
There are always clubs and players looking for different options, i think we will see a new face soon unless Jonno is only having a holiday, no release from the club about him having finished, i know the tweet suggested otherwise.
Stranger things have happened

Have we officially been informed that Stringer has left yet? Wouldn’t rely on that. He’s gone.

Agree with Ted & Co, we need a 10.
One with experience & skill would be a huge benefit to Shilcock.
Don't know if he did, but he was on the bench for today's Cav's game.
That's not the right way to develop & grow as a player.

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